Study on Effects of Building Morphology on Urban Boundary Layer Using an Urban Canopy Model

An urban canopy model is incorporated into the Nanjing University Regional Boundary Layer Model. Temperature simulated by the urban canopy model is in better agreement with the observation, especially in the night time, than that simulated by the traditional slab model. The coupled model is used to study the effects of building morphology on urban boundary layer and meteorological environment by changing urban area, building height, and building density. It is found that when the urban area is expanded, the urban boundary layer heat flux, thermal turbulence, and the turbulent momentum flux and kinetic energy all increase or enhance, causing the surface air temperature to rise up. The stability of urban atmospheric stratification is affected to different extent at different times of the day. When the building height goes up, the aerodynamic roughness height, zero plane displacement height of urban area, and ratio of building height to street width all increase. Therefore,:the increase in building height results in the decrease of the surface heat flux, urban surface temperature, mean wind speed, and turbulent kinetic energy in daytime. While at night, as more heat storage is released by higher buildings, thermal turbulence is more active and surface heat flux increases, leading to a higher urban temperature. As the building density increases, the aerodynamic roughness height of urban area decreases, and the effect of urban canopy on radiation strengthens. The increase of building density results in the decrease in urban surface heat flux, momentum flux, and air temperature, the increase in mean wind speed, and the weakening of turbulence in the daytime. While at night, the urban temperature increases due to the release of more heat storage.